


Eleven

by poisonivory



Series: Boy Wonder [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boy Band, Alternate Universe - Popstar, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 22:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14530230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonivory/pseuds/poisonivory
Summary: Suddenly Matt gets it - why Foggy’s still awake, why he’s so upset. She didn’t mean to do it, but Jessica Jones opened up Foggy’s closet and dragged all of his skeletons into the light.





	Eleven

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel to [Boy Wonder](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6558478/chapters/15004363)! I'd recommend reading that one first or this won't make much sense.
> 
> CW: Mentions of abusive guardians and Jessica's past with Kilgrave.

When Matt gets home from patrol, Foggy is sitting at the piano.

That’s not unusual. Sometimes Foggy will work late into the night on a song he can’t quite figure out; other times he’ll sit bolt upright, woken from a dead sleep with a clever lyric.

Tonight, though - or this morning, if Matt’s being technical - he’s just sitting there, picking out the chorus of “You’re My World” with one finger.

That’s...concerning.

“Hey, Max Martin,” Matt says, shucking off his helmet and sitting at the bench next to Foggy. “Burning the midnight oil?”

“Hi, sweetheart,” Foggy says, leaning over and giving him a kiss. “How’d it go?”

“Fine. Quiet night,” Matt says. “What are you doing still up?”

Foggy shrugs. “Working.”

Matt reaches out and wraps his hand around Foggy’s finger, the finger that’s still playing “You’re My World.” “That song’s already written. Want to try again?”

Foggy sighs, and puts his hand down. “Jessica came over to see me today.”

Matt blinks. “To...threaten you?” He likes Jessica a lot, but she doesn’t really play well with others, and certainly doesn’t make social calls just for the heck of it. Mostly they see her when Foggy plays K’un Lun, the little nightclub co-owned by Jessica’s husband Luke and his partner Danny.

Foggy shakes his head. “It’s Danielle.”

“Shit, everything okay?” Matt asks. Danielle is Luke and Jessica’s eleven-year-old daughter. She’s never been sick a day in her life - small wonder considering how hardy both of her parents are - but Matt supposes there’s always a first time. But why would Jessica call Foggy for that?

“Yeah, she’s great. She’s fantastic.” Foggy sweeps his hair back from his forehead. “She wants to try for a record deal.”

For a second Matt doesn’t get it, and then he does. “Oh _shit_ ,” he says again.

Fifteen years ago, Jessica Jones was a tabloid trainwreck second only to Bucky Barnes. She’d become famous more for her connections and bad behavior than any actual accomplishments, although she _had_ once cut an absolutely wretched album of club music that Matt had gleefully, mercilessly ripped to shreds in the Columbia _Spectator_. Mostly, though, she trashed hotel rooms, crashed cars, and smashed reporters’ cameras. Any paparazzo who made it through an encounter with her without ending up in the hospital could sell his footage to the highest bidder.

Jessica’s worst excesses had been in the company of “Kevin Kilgrave,” a con artist who billed himself as a manager and then systematically destroyed the lives of his “clients.” He’d suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. Massive scandal and a sealed court record later, and Jessica had retired from the limelight for good.

More to the point, though, Jessica had met Kilgrave through her foster sister Trish - better known to the world as Patsy Walker of _It’s Patsy!_ and an almost-as-bad-as-Jessica’s music career. Matt didn’t know Trish well, but everyone knew that she’d had her own struggles with abusive guardians, exploitative management, and multiple stints in rehab.

In other words, Jessica Jones: not a fan of child stardom. And now her kid wanted to break into the business.

“Yeah,” Foggy said, picking up on Matt’s dismay. “Jessica’s freaking out. She said no way in hell, and then they got in a screaming match, and then Danielle cried, and then Trish came over and _Trish_ cried, and then Luke took Danielle to Danny’s to give everyone a little space and Jessica got shitfaced and called me.”

Matt can feel his eyebrows climbing to his hairline. “You’ve had quite an evening.”

“Probably more dangerous than yours,” Foggy says, a bit of his normal levity creeping into his voice before it vanishes again. “I poured about fourteen cups of coffee into her and talked her down.”

“You’re a good man, Foggy Nelson,” Matt says, pulling off his gloves and leaning past Foggy to toss them onto the coffee table. “So why did Jess want to talk to you specifically?”

Whatever it is that’s been keeping Foggy awake is suddenly back in the room, so palpable Matt can practically touch it. Foggy depresses the keys on the piano carefully, slow enough that they don’t make any noise. “She doesn’t think Danielle’s gonna let up on this. I mean, she’s fifty percent Jones and fifty percent Cage, she’s about as stubborn as they make ‘em. Jessica doesn’t want to crush her dreams. And the kid _can_ sing.”

Matt nods, and waits.

“She wants me to manage Danielle. Or - or advise her, or _something_ ,” Foggy says finally.

And suddenly Matt gets it - why Foggy’s still awake, why he’s so upset. Why he’s playing Boy Wonder’s only hit at four in the morning. She didn’t mean to do it, but Jessica Jones opened up Foggy’s closet and dragged all of his skeletons into the light.

“Tell her no,” Matt says immediately. He likes Jessica, but he likes Foggy more.

“I should,” Foggy says. “I should, but...what about Danielle?”

“She doesn’t have to cut a demo next week,” Matt points out. “She’s _eleven_. She’s not even in high school yet. Put her in voice lessons, let her do school plays. Hope she inherits Luke’s right hook before she turns eighteen.”

“That’s just putting it off,” Foggy says. “Jessica wasn’t exactly in pigtails when that Kilgrave creep got ahold of her.”

“It doesn’t have to be you,” Matt says. “You’ve got your own work, your own career.” He also has his own baggage about his own child stardom. They don’t talk about it a lot, but Foggy’s worked hard to be okay with his past. Matt doesn’t want to see it drag him down again.

“Yeah, but if it’s not me, it’ll be Dorothy Walker,” Foggy says. “Or Kevin Kilgrave. Or the General.”

“At least one of those people is dead,” Matt points out.

“You know what I mean,” Foggy says. “Jessica wants Danielle to have someone she can trust. _I_ want Danielle to have someone she can trust.”

“But…?” Matt coaxes.

“But.” Foggy sags on the bench. “What the fuck do _I_ know about any of this?”

Matt’s not proud of his first instinct, which is to find Thaddeus Ross and punch him in the nose. His second instinct, to put his hand between Foggy’s shoulder blades and rub his thumb back and forth, goes a little better. Foggy sinks into him and leans his head on Matt’s shoulder.

“...You know music,” Matt starts slowly. Foggy snorts a little but doesn’t interrupt. “You know how to train a voice. You know how to pick a likely hit over a dud. You know how to spot a sleazebag at fifty paces.”

“‘S easy, just look for the dudes with their shirts unbuttoned halfway down,” Foggy mumbles into Matt’s shoulder.

“You know what a kid in the industry needs, and what they need once they’re out of it,” Matt adds, and Foggy goes quiet again. “I’m not saying that you need to be her manager - you _do_ have a job - but is there any reason you can’t be her mentor? Maybe help her put the brakes on her ambition until she’s a little more prepared to deal with the sharks?” He moves the hand on Foggy’s back higher, to stroke his hair. “And...have you considered it might be good for you, too? It might help you lay some demons to rest.”

Foggy’s silent for a minute. “I suppose we can’t all roundhouse kick our demons in the solar plexus,” he says finally.

Matt grins. “I mean, I can teach you if you want.”

Foggy laughs and sits up. “No thanks. I’m happy being a lover and not a fighter.” He swipes a hand over his cheek. Matt doesn’t comment on it. “You really think I should help Danielle navigate the industry? Now or...eventually?”

“That’s up to you,” Matt says. “I just don’t think you should _not_ do it because you think you’re not the right person to help her. I can attest that you are extremely helpful to wayward souls.”

There’s the puff of air that goes with Foggy’s quick grin, not quite a laugh but almost. “Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

“You think you can think about it in bed?” Matt asks, pushing Foggy’s hair back from his face.

“Yeah,” Foggy says, and catches Matt before he can rise from the piano bench to give him a lingering kiss. “Thanks.”

Matt gives him the sappy smile he knows he’s been giving him since day one. He has a feeling Foggy’s going to be an amazing mentor. “Any time.”

-

Smile big, you’re gonna be a star  
Trust me, kid, I can take you fast and far  
It might hurt but nothing that won’t heal  
It won’t last but that’s the way you know it’s real  
So I smile and I wave to the crowd  
If they warn me I can’t hear, it’s too damn loud  
I’m a star  
And when the lights flash it looks like heaven  
But I was only eleven

Foggy Nelson, “Eleven,” _Wonderlust_ (2007)

**Author's Note:**

> Jessica's album was 100% called _Jewel_ and it was basically just Lindsay Lohan's "Rumors" 12 times in a row.


End file.
